WNBJ-LD
WNBJ-LD, virtual channel 39 (UHF digital channel 16), is a low-powered dual NBC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Jackson, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. WNBJ's studios are located on North Highland Avenue, and its transmitter is located near the corner of Commerce and Iselin streets, both in downtown Jackson. On cable, the station is available on Spectrum channels 15 (standard definition) and 715 (high definition), and on Jackson Energy Authority (JEA) Broadband channels 4 (SD) and 188 (HD). It is also carried on Dish Network channel 6 and DirecTV channel 6. WNBJ-LD2 is available on Spectrum channels 2 (SD) and 713 (HD), and on JEA Broadband channels 21 (SD) and 221 (HD); the subchannel is not carried on Dish or DirecTV. History Plans for an NBC affiliate in Jackson originated with the 2011 acquisition of former TBN repeater W35AH channel 35 from the Minority Media and Television Council (an organization designed to preserve equal opportunity and civil rights in the media) by New Moon Communications, as part of a package deal that also included former TBN repeaters in Dothan, Alabama; Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Ottumwa, Iowa. Of the four stations, only the Dothan station became NBC, but under different owners, as WRGX-LD. KJNE-LP in Jonesboro was sold to Waypoint Media, LLC of Meridian, Mississippi, owners of Fox/CBS affiliate KJNB-LD (and eventually became a satellite of that station), while the licenses in Ottumwa (KUMK-LP) and Jackson (whose transmitter would be re-called WZMC-LP) would later be canceled, with the Jackson station cancelled in July 2013. The history of WNBJ-LD originates with the station's construction permit granted in 2011, under the call sign W16DE-D. The current WNBJ-LD call letters replaced their previous translator-style call sign on July 9, 2014. In September 2014, it was confirmed that WNBJ would sign on as an NBC affiliate for the Jackson market. WMC-TV in Memphis or WSMV in Nashville were previously the default NBC affiliates for the Jackson area using a very strong antenna, or through cable television. Some of the far northern parts of the local media market (e.g. northern Gibson County north of Trenton) could pick up WPSD in Paducah, Kentucky until the DTV transition for full-power stations took place in 2009. On October 6, 2014, WNBJ went on the air first via Dish Network channel 6 at 11:30 a.m. CDT. OTA followed in November 2014 and Direct TV in January 2015. The station was signed-on by a local group known as Jackson TV, LLC, who then entered into an outsourcing agreement with Waypoint Media to allow Waypoint to operate the station. NBC was the last of the Big Four television networks to have a local outlet in Jackson. Currently, The Jackson Energy Authority's cable system still pipes in most of the major outlets in Memphis, including WMC-TV. CBS affiliate WTVF is the only Nashville-based media outlet offered on JEA's cable lineup, with WNBJ-LD replacing WSMV on cable channel 4. WNBJ was the second television station in the Jackson market to sign on exclusively in digital, about eight to nine months after WYJJ-LD. The station's original owners terminated WNBJ-LD's outsourcing agreement with Waypoint and sold WNBJ-LD outright to SagamoreHill Broadcasting in April 2016. On August 6, 2018, a 720p HD feed (branded as "West Tennessee's CW 39") of The CW's national CW Plus service was added to subchannel 39.2, succeeding cable-only "WBJK" as the CW Plus affiliate for the Jackson, Tennessee market. Category:NBC affiliated stations Category:The CW Affiliates Category:Channel 39 Category:Jackson, TN Category:Tennessee Category:SagamoreHill Broadcasting Category:2014 Category:Television channels and stations established in 2014 Category:UHF Category:NBC Tennessee Category:The CW Tennessee